In rural, old Japan fibers used for clothing and utilitarian items were found in nature: some were cultivated like ramie and hemp, and some were foraged for in the wild, like linden (shina), wisteria (fuji) and kudzu (kuzu).  Today I’m showing a basket woven from wild grape (budo) vine bark along with some yarns which were obtained from the mountain wisteria.
The basket, which is woven from the inner bark of a wild grape vine, was said to be used to forage for mushrooms, but it most likely was also used for gathering other kinds of material in the forest, such as nuts or vegetables.  Likely it dates to the mid-twentieth century.  A carrying cord was once attached to the lug handles, and the basket was either carried at the wearer’s side, or strapped to his or her back.
Fuji, or wisteria, is one of the rarest and most precious of the fibers used in old Japan.  Shown below is raw wisteria fiber which was cultivated and processed  in late 20th century in Tango, Kyoto Prefecture, where some fuji preservation work is ongoing.
I am showing several close-ups of the fuji yarn in order for you to imagine its texture and color.
Old garments woven from fuji are very hard to find.  They are extremely prized if you do find them, and, moreover, they command top price should you be lucky enough to find (or afford) a garment woven of wisteria.
These photos may seem to indicate that wisteria feels dry, like raffia or straw, but in actual fact, the fibers feel quite silky and pliant.

While I was in Japan last month,  I came across a stack of panels of patched, cotton kaya or mosquito netting, three panels of which are shown here.  These panels were taken from a full kaya, which was a tent of gauzy cotton and was  feature of almost every home in old Japan–Japanese summers are hot and sticky, and mosquitoes are everywhere.

I think these panels look best when suspended and back lit; in this way, the layered patches play best against the translucent, gauzy cotton, creating a beautiful contrast.

By seeing these three panels together, you get a good sense of what the owner of this full kaya would have seen in their own home: quite a beautiful display of patches and unintended visual syncopation.

Notice, too, how the blue, vertical stripes are woven into the cloth: at each selvedge edge they are given 1/2 their normal width: this was done to create visual coherence when one panel was placed next to another panel.  The flow of stripes would be even all around the kaya.

Over time, starting soon, on my website I will be offering these kaya panels for sale.  If you’re interested in them, please don’t hesitate writing.

Japan’s summers are brutally hot and humid, and with muggy weather comes mosquitoes, as we all know.  Kaya, or mosquito netting, has been a staple of Japanese life for centuries, and for as long, it was woven from hand plied bast fiber, usually hemp, and fashioned into a tent-like structure of varying sizes.

This one probably dates to the 1950s or so, is made from hemp cloth which is dyed a gradient blue.   I’m offering this beauty for sale on my website on June 3, 2009.

I’m thrilled to offer this, and I’m very pleased to be able to show an intact kaya.  I’ve sold many single panels which have been removed from the entire tent, so I hope these images provide a better understanding of kaya. Note that this piece, above and below, is in great shape, down to the steel rings on each, top, corner.  They are still very sturdily attached.

Here’s a wonderful website showing great, historical images of kaya–and discusses the languid, hot summers of Japan.

Two balls of hand plied Japanese hemp yarn and a skein of raw cotton yarn, sitting in a mended trough from Gilgit, Pakistan, seen in soft light.

Asa is the general Japanese term used to refer to textiles that are woven from yarns that are hand-plied from bast or plant fibers–chief among them in Japan are hemp or ramie, taima or choma, respectively.  Other bast fibers used in traditional Japanese weaving were kuzu (kudzu), shina (linden), fuji (mountain wisteria) to name a few.

The beautiful fragment of cloth shown below is an asa textile, and although it appears to be woven from hemp or ramie yarn, it is, in fact woven from nettle, called akaso in Japan.

It is said to be from Shiga Prefecture in Japan’s Kansai region, Shiga being the same place where the fabulous omi jofu or the fine-as-silk ramie and hemp cloth is woven.  Most likely this wonderful, small piece of cloth is taken from a kimono.